UNSEALED 2/26/19 St. Thomas, USVI – Owner of Construction Company and Three Others Charged with Disaster Fraud and Identity Theft in the United States Virgin Islands

St. Thomas, USVI –United States Attorney Gretchen C.F. Shappert for the District of the Virgin Islands announced today that charges have been unsealed against Juli Campbell and three others for fraud related to the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA’s) Sheltering and Temporary Essential Power (STEP) Program.

The STEP Program provides federal funds for essential repairs to homes damaged by Hurricanes Irma and Maria. According to the Indictment returned by the Grand Jury in the case, Campbell operated Campbell Development, LLC, which was a subcontractor performing STEP-funded work in St. Croix, VI. Campbell and her co-defendants are alleged to have executed a scheme whereby they submitted fraudulent invoices related to a STEP-funded subcontract, even including on such invoices the names of workers who were not actually on the island.

"The Department of Justice is committed to ensuring that federal dollars are used for their intended purposes," said U.S. Attorney Shappert. "The United States Attorney’s Office for the Virgin Islands is especially committed to making certain that federal funds intended for the victims of natural disasters are accounted for and used consistent with FEMA’s directives."

"The DHS OIG takes any and all allegations of fraudulent activity seriously and intends to hold accountable those who try to use natural disasters such as Hurricane Maria to take advantage of others," said Special Agent in Charge Jay H. Donly of the DHS OIG Miami Field Office. "The DHS OIG will continue to use its investigative resources to stop those who use these circumstances for personal and illegal gain."

https://www.justice.gov/usao-vi/pr/owner-construction-company-and-three-others-charged-disaster-fraud-and-identity-theft

HONOLULU – A federal inmate, Taloa Latu, 29, was sentenced today to 8 years of imprisonment for committing an assault resulting in serious bodily injury to another inmate on September 11, 2016.

https://www.justice.gov/usao-hi/pr/federal-inmate-sentenced-eight-years-prison-assault-resulting-serious-bodily-injury

BOSTON – Two Malaysian nationals were indicted today for conspiring to illegally export firearm parts from the United States to Hong Kong.

Lionel Chan, 35, a resident of Brighton, and Muhammad Mohd Radzi, 26, who resides in Brooklyn, N.Y., were each indicted on one count of conspiring to violate the Arms Export Control Act. Chan was also indicted for obstruction of justice. On Jan. 31, 2019, Chan and Radzi were arrested and charged by criminal complaint.

According to the indictment, beginning in or around March 2018, Chan began purchasing a variety of U.S.-origin firearm parts online, including parts used to assemble AR-15 assault rifles and 9MM semi-automatic handguns, for a buyer located in Hong Kong. Many of the firearm parts that Chan purchased and exported to Hong Kong are defense articles that are designated on the United States Munitions List and therefore cannot be exported from the United States without first obtaining an export license or written authorization from the U.S. Department of State.

Nonetheless, Chan allegedly shipped the firearm parts via Federal Express to the buyer in Hong Kong without first obtaining the necessary export licenses. Chan intentionally concealed the contents of the shipments by providing Federal Express with false information about the shipments, and by concealing the parts inside of each package. Between March and May 2018, Chan allegedly shipped at least 12 packages containing firearm parts from Brighton to the buyer in Hong Kong.

In or around April 2018, Radzi allegedly joined the conspiracy and began illegally exporting firearm parts to Hong Kong as well.

Between May and October 2018, Radzi allegedly shipped 21 packages from Brooklyn, N.Y., to the buyer in Hong Kong. In October 2018, two of those packages were interdicted by Hong Kong authorities and found to contain numerous firearms parts, including a firing pin and gun sight, which are defense articles and controlled under Category I of the United States Munitions List. Like Chan, Radzi failed to obtain an export license for any of these shipments.

In addition to the conspiracy charge, Chan was also indicted for obstructing justice. According to the indictment, during a flight from Dublin, Ireland to Boston on January 2, 2019, Chan deleted text messages between himself and the buyer in Hong Kong regarding the illegal export of firearm parts from the United States to Hong Kong without the necessary export licenses.

https://www.justice.gov/usao-ma/pr/two-malaysian-nationals-indicted-conspiring-illegally-export-firearm-parts-hong-kong

Hacker BILLY RIBEIRO ANDERSON, a/k/a “Anderson Albuquerque,” a/k/a “AlfabetoVirtual,” Sentenced To Prison For Hacking Websites Of The Combating Terrorism Center At West Point And The New York City Comptroller

https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdny/pr/hacker-alfabetovirtual-sentenced-prison-hacking-websites-combating-terrorism-center

>>5407031

On or about July 10, 2015, a website owned by the NYC Comptroller was defaced, and ANDERSON, using the online pseudonym “AlfabetoVirtual,” claimed responsibility for the intrusion and defacement. The contents of the NYC Comptroller website were modified to display the text “Hacked by AlfabetoVirtual,” “#FREEPALESTINE” and “#FREEGAZA.” The defacement was performed by exploiting security vulnerabilities associated with the version of a plugin being used on the website.